How to survive the family dinner

In the spirit of harmonious family time, here are a few strategies for every room to get relatives breaking bread without breaking down or breaking things

Photograph by: Monkey Business
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The holiday family dinner can test patience, fray nerves or ignite old feuds. This year, try diversionary tactics.

In the spirit of harmonious family time, here are a few strategies for every room to get relatives breaking bread without breaking down or breaking things.

The Family/Living Room

Have a stack of board games for all ages at the ready.

Have a fun (non-competitive) family game of charades or Pictionary. Winning teams win dollar store prizes from a mystery grab bag.

Set up a craft table for younger children. Think simple, low fuss, less mess crafts that aren't complicated and don't require a lot of help from adults. For even less fuss, set out holiday-themed colouring books with loads of crayons and markers.

Give the children disposable cameras and let them fire away.

Teens aren't generally known for their communication skills and desire to hang out with the family, so why not let them fire up video games for a night? Get adults involved in a playoff with the younger ones. Host a friendly (very friendly) pre-dinner competition. Sanity-saving tip: Mute the sound and shelve Grand Theft Auto and other ultra-violent video games.

The Bathroom

Keep this room well stocked with all the necessary supplies, extra toilet paper at the ready, a full liquid soap dispenser -- or go wild and break out the fancy soaps.

The Dining Room

Assign age-appropriate children and an adult to set the table. Get another (or the same) crew to clear the table after dinner. Set Christmas crackers at each place setting.

Set up a special kids' table for the wee ones.

At family dinners, think family style. Instead of serving perfectly presented plates, pass food around the table so everyone can serve themselves.

Before tucking in, offer a nice, short toast to the family and thank everyone for coming. While noshing, go around the table and let everyone share stories about what they are most grateful for in the past year or a happy, funny or unexpected highlight of the past year. The kids' stories will likely offer great laughs to break any tension.

The Front Walk

After dinner and dishes, it's time for a walk around the block with the children. Bring the dog. Work up an appetite for dessert. If there's snow on the ground, make a snowman or create snow angels. Check out neighbourhood holiday light displays.

Another option: Set up a post-dinner family photo at an assigned time in front of the Christmas tree or at the dinner table.

The Kitchen

No one likes a kitchen martyr, that one person (typically the hostess) who gets stuck with planning the menu, buying the groceries, making and serving the meal and then cleaning up after the meal.

Instead of martyr, think taskmaster. Get family members to pull tasks from a hat, separating kid duties and adult duties.

Assign kitchen duties to a few people. Sign teens up for vegetable prep duty. At dinnertime, enlist someone to carve the meat, another to mash the potatoes, and one more to stir the sauce, among other final last-minute dinner details.

Get a dishwashing or dishwasher loading crew formed before dinner. Appoint a leftover leader to put extra food away.

Several Rooms

Set out small plates of nibblies for guests to munch on before dinner to avoid the always annoying question "When will supper be ready?" Assign one family member to appetizer-refilling duty. Don't serve too much pre-dinner food or the main event will be spoiled. Whet the appetite, don't douse it.

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